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2016 AGO National Convention in Houston

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Congratulations to the 2016 NYACOP and NCOI Winners

Five finalists played at the 2016 NYACOP final round Saturday, June 18, 2016 at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas. The winning players were Katelyn Emerson – First Place, Kirk Rich – Second Place, and Weicheng Zhao – Third Place and Audience Prize.

Three finalists were chosen at the 2015 NCOI semifinals held July 1, 2015 at the Charlotte SE Regional Convention. The three organists below traveled to Houston, Texas for the NCOI final round that was held June 21, 2016 at Christ Church Cathedral (Houston). Thomas Dahl, was awarded 1st Place and the Audience Prize, Matt Gender was awarded 2nd Place, and Kalle Toivio was awarded 3rd Place.

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Eight Prizes Presented to Six Organists at National Convention in Houston, TX

The American Guild of Organists  is pleased to announce the results of its National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance (NYACOP) and the National Competition in Organ Improvisation (NCOI). Prizewinners were recognized at the 53rd biennial AGO National Convention in Houston, Tex. The following prizes were awarded:

National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance

First Prize—Katelyn Emerson

  • The Jordan Organ Endowment Prize: $10,000, awarded in conjunction with a solo recital on the Jordan Family Organ in Columbus, GA;
  • The Lilian Murtagh Memorial Prize: $3,000 cash award and career development assistance provided by Karen McFarlane Artists;
  • a CD recording by Pro Organo;
  • a performance at the 2018 AGO National Convention in Kansas City, MO;
  • and a series of award recitals throughout the US

Second Prize—Kirk Rich

  • $5,000 cash award provided by Kegg Pipe Organ Builders

Third Prize—Weicheng Zhao

  • $3,000 cash award provided by John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders

Audience Choice Prize—Weicheng Zhao

  • $1,000 cash award provided by the Martin Ott Pipe Organ Company
Katelyn Emerson
Katelyn Emerson
Weicheng Zhao
Weicheng Zhao
Kirk Rich
Kirk Rich
National Competition in Organ Improvisation

First Prize—Thomas Dahl

  • $3,000 cash award provided by the estate of McNeil Robinson;
  • a CD recording by Pro Organo

Second Prize—Matt Gender

  • $2,000 cash award provided by Dobson Pipe Organ Builders Ltd.

Third Prize—Kalle Toivio

  • $1,500 cash award provided by Pamela and Steven Ruiter-Feenstra

Audience Choice Prize—Thomas Dahl

  • $1,500 cash award provided by David and Robin Arcus
Thomas Dahl
Thomas Dahl
Matt Gender
Matt Gender
Kalle Tovio
Kalle Tovio
National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance

The National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance promotes the highest level of organ performance. The competition serves as a springboard for emerging young organists, allowing them to continue to develop their performance ability by participating in the various demanding stages of this competition. Established in 1950 and held biennially, the competition is open to organists between the ages of 22 and 32.

The judges for the final round of the 2016 NYACOP in Houston were Edoardo Bellotti, Dean Billmeyer, Susan Ferré, James Kibbie, Ludger Lohmann, John Schwandt, and Carole Terry. Major support for the competition was provided by the Jordan Organ Endowment, Karen McFarlane Artists, Kegg Pipe Organ Builders, John-Paul Buzard Pipe Organ Builders, the Martin Ott Pipe Organ Company, the Nita Akin Competition Fund, and the Dallas (TX) AGO Chapter, host of the semifinal round.

National Competition in Organ Improvisation

The National Competition in Organ Improvisation advances the art of improvisation by recognizing and rewarding superior performers in the field. Improvisation is the pinnacle of achievement for a musician who can combine the elements of performance and composition simultaneously in the creation of a new work of art. Since 1990, the AGO NCOI has motivated and inspired hundreds of the most talented organists in America. Today, it is the preeminent competition in North America dedicated to preserving and advancing improvisation at the organ, and is open to all regardless of age or country of citizenship.

A flourishing tradition of improvisation has always been fundamental to a truly vital musical culture. Although musical extemporization has enjoyed a rich heritage in Europe for
many centuries, the art form is in perilous risk of extinction in America except among a few organists and jazz musicians. The NCOI continues to set the standard for organists seeking to demonstrate their skill in extemporaneous performance, the highest and most challenging musical art form.

The judges for the final round of the 2016 NCOI in Houston were David Arcus, Marie Rubis Bauer, Pamela Decker, Marie-Bernadette Dufourcet, David Enlow, Tom Trenney, and David Ashley White. Major support was provided by the estate of McNeil Robinson, Dobson Pipe Organ Builders Ltd., Pamela and Steven Ruiter-Feenstra, and David and Robin Arcus.

Biographies of the 2016 competitors can be found in the April 2016 (NYACOP) and May 2015 (NCOI) issues of The American Organist Magazine.

Photo credits: Joseph Routon

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AGO Recognizes Three Award Winning Composers

The American Guild of Organists honored three award- winning composers at its Annual Meeting on June 22, during the 2016 AGO National Convention in Houston, TX. AGO Vice President Christian Lane presided over the award presentations to David Ashley White of Houston, Ivan Božičević of Croatia, and Michael Gilbertson of Hamden, CT

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David Ashley White

The 2016 Distinguished Composer Award was presented to David Ashley White. The prestigious award, created in 1986, is presented biennially to recognize outstanding composers of organ and choral music in the United States. White’s anthem, With a Shining Like the Sun, for mixed chorus, brass, timpani, organ, and congregation, was given its premier performance during the convention. Previous award recipients include: Virgil Thomson, Ned Rorem, Daniel Pinkham, Samuel Adler, Dominick Argento, William Albright, Conrad Susa, Emma Lou Diemer, Dan Locklair, William Bolcom, Alice Parker, Carl Schalk, Margaret Sandresky, Richard Proulx, Stephen Paulus, David Hurd, Craig Phillips, and Libby Larsen.

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Ivan Božičević

The 2016 AGO/Marilyn Mason Award in Organ Composition was presented to Ivan Božičević for The Moonpiper–A Bagpipe Dance for Organ, which was given its premier performance by Joby Bell during the convention. The award included a cash prize of $2,000, and publication by Hinshaw Music Inc.

Michael Gilbertson-220x220
Michael Gilbertson

The 2016 AGO/ECS Publishing Award in Choral Composition was presented to Michael Gilbertson for his anthem for SATB choir, organ, and trumpet, The Voice of the Lord, which was given its premier performance during the convention. The award included a cash prize of $2,000 and publication, both provided by the ECS Publishing Co.

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AGO’S Highest and Most Prestigious Awards Bestowed at National Convention

The American Guild of Organists bestowed its two highest awards of national distinction in conjunction with the 53rd biennial AGO National Convention in Houston, TX. Award presentations were made during the Guild’s Annual Meeting. AGO President John Walker made the presentation to Frederick Haas, and at Walker’s request, Jeffrey Hoover made the presentation to Robert Bennett because of Hoover’s long association with the award recipient.

The AGO President’s Award was presented to Frederick R. Haas of Philadelphia, PA. The prestigious award, created in 1988, is presented biennially to recognize outstanding contributions to the art of the organ in the United States. The 2016 President’s Award was given to Haas “in gratitude for his inspired artistry, faithful support, and generous patronage of the King of Instruments.”

Past AGO President John Walker presents the AGO President’s Award to Frederick R. Haas
Past AGO President John Walker presents the AGO President’s Award to Frederick R. Haas

Past recipients of the AGO President’s Award include: Clementine Miller Tangeman, Alice Tully, Mr. and Mrs. A.D. Hulings, Amelia Lay Hodges, J. Michael Barone, Roberta Bitgood, FAGO, ChM, Edward A. Hansen, AAGO (posthumously awarded), Anthony Baglivi, Craig R. Whitney, Pleasant T. Rowland, Mr. and Mrs. Wesley C. Dudley, Messrs. Ronald G. Pogorzelski and Lester D. Yankee (posthumously awarded), Martha Rivers Ingram, and Christoph Wolff.

The AGO Edward A. Hansen Leadership Award was presented to Robert C. Bennett of Houston, TX. Created by the AGO National Council in 1999 to honor the memory of the Guild’s distinguished past president, Edward A. Hansen, AAGO, the prestigious award is presented biennially to recognize individuals who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in the AGO. The 2016 Edward A. Hansen Leadership Award was given to Bennett “in gratitude for his lifetime of devoted service to the Guild and his leadership in the Houston Chapter spanning more than seven decades.”

The AGO Edward A. Hansen Leadership Award is presented to Robert C. Bennett of Houston, TX
The AGO Edward A. Hansen Leadership Award is presented to Robert C. Bennett of Houston, TX

Previous Hansen Award recipients include: Karen McFarlane Holtkamp, Ruth M. Caswell, Joyce S. Hesketh, Betty Jean Bartholomew, D. DeWitt Wasson, ChM, Marianne Webb, Frederick Swann, Peter and Lois Fyfe, and Barbara Owen.

Biographies

FREDERICK R. HAAS, organist and philanthropist, is a native of Villanova, PA, and has performed throughout the Philadelphia region his entire life. He is Assistant Grand Court Organist at Macy’s Center City Philadelphia, where he performs on the Wanamaker Organ weekly, and co-chaired the 2016 OHS National Convention in Philadelphia, June 26–July 2.

Fred Haas began piano study at age six and, during high school, had organ lessons with Robert Plimpton. He was admitted to the Oberlin Conservatory as a student of David Boe, and studied with Fenner Douglass, David Craighead, Harald Vogel, and William Porter through the Oberlin Summer Organ Institutes. He was awarded a bachelor’s degree in organ performance from Oberlin in 1983 and returned to Philadelphia. He was assistant organist to Jeffrey Brillhart at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church until 1986.

A lifelong advocate for the King of Instruments, Mr. Haas is founder of the Historic Organ Trust, an organization dedicated to preserving and restoring important American pipe organs. He is a board member of the Historic Organ Restoration Committee at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall and was lead donor of the Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ (Dobson, Opus 76) in Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia.

Mr. Haas is a trustee of the William Penn Foundation, trustee of the Wyncote Foundation, a patron of new and traditional opera at the Metropolitan Opera and at Opera Philadelphia, and a trustee of Santa Fe Opera.

ROBERT C. BENNETT has given more than 70 years of service to the AGO. At the age of 13, he was elected treasurer of the Houston Chapter and has since held multiple terms as dean and auditor. Bennett was coordinator of the 1958 AGO National Convention in Houston, co-coordinator of the 1988 AGO National Convention, and advisor to the 2016 AGO National Convention. Additionally, he was coordinator of the 1973 AGO Mid-Winter Conclave and AGO Region VII Convention.

Bennett was Diaconal Minister of Music and Fine Arts at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Houston, where he designed its organ and served for 42 years. He was chair of the subcommittee on hymn tunes for the 1988 United Methodist Hymnal and the 1993 hymnal supplement. He is a Fellow of Trinity College, London, and holds a doctorate from Southwestern University.

Photo credits: Joseph Routon

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Houston Convention Ends on a High Note

The 53rd biennial National Convention of the AGO ended on a high note on Thursday, June 23rd. A very high note. The evening opened with a greeting from the International Space Station astronaut Jeff Williams.

Also featured in the program from St. Martin’s Episcopal Church was Hans Zimmer’s Cornfield Chase from the movie Interstellar.

Over the course of the 5-day event 1,200 attendees were busy from early morning through the closing of the Exhibit Hall at midnight. A large number of enthusiastic young organists brought a special energy to the convention. A reception on Sunday night in outgoing president John Walker’s suite for AGOYO (AGO Young Organists) members was jam-packed.

Finalists in both the NCOI (National Competition in Organ Improvisation) and NYACOP (National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance) competed in Houston. Results were as follows:

2016 NCOI:
Thomas Dahl 1st place and Audience Prize
Matt Gender 2nd Place
Kalle Toivio 3rd place

2016 NYACOP:
1st place – Katelyn Emerson
2nd place – Kirk Rich
3rd place and Audience Prize – Weicheng Zhao

On the final night Rhonda Furr of the Houston Steering Committee passed the torch to Lynn Bratney from the Kansas City chapter, host of the 2018 AGO National Convention.

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Houston 2016 Convention — Thursday June 23rd

The final day of the convention features a full morning of workshops.

The afternoon features recitals by Ars Lyrica Houston, Joby Bell, and Diane Belcher at various locations.

You won’t want to miss the AGO Rising Stars’ performance of Bayoubüchlein at Co-Cathedral of Sacred Heart.

An Evening Extravaganza and Closing Reception at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church close out the day’s activities.